Every year, people spend countless hours and dollars trying to figure out how to “beat the market.” There is no set definition of “beating the market,” but generally it refers to the process of trying to understand and explain the structure, function, and overall performance of the stock market and other investment tools and then using this savvy to achieve a subjectively good return on investment. Yet, despite hours of study, consultations with experts, the development of complicated models, attendance at lectures, and study of investment books, the stock market remains a poorly understood—if not completely misunderstood—phenomenon. The thrill of “winning” in the market often is offset by the pain of “losing” in the market. The recent history of market “booms” and “busts,” references to various bubbles bursting, and the collective memory of the Depression, for example, each accentuate these fears.
Thus, there is an inherent impediment to full participation in, and understanding of, the market, especially when the stakes quite literally can be high. Indeed, even beyond relatively risk-averse individuals, many people are turned off simply because of the inherent risk associated with the market. These people never experience the fun of “playing the game” and fail to gain investment intuition that comes through experience. They also miss out on the opportunity to compete with others, therefore missing out on the ability to use their own micro-strategies and behaviors to help influence the macro-performance of the market.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there exists a need for overcoming one or more of the above-described and/or other drawbacks. It also will be appreciated that there is a need for allowing individuals to experience the thrill of, and/or learn about, the stock market in a fun, easy, and risk-free environment.
Fantasy sports games have gained popularity over the last few years. In brief, fantasy sports games enable individuals to create fantasy teams and compete against the fantasy teams of others. Each fantasy team may comprise players drafted from a pool, with or without regard to the real-world teams. Once created, the fantasy teams generally “score points” based on the performance of the players comprising the teams. As such, fantasy sports games enable players to create fantasy teams that compete in a fantasy scenario in which real sports-related statistics are translated into fantasy sports-based performance of the fantasy teams.
According to certain exemplary embodiments, a competitive simulation between players is provided. Each player may have a team/portfolio comprising a plurality of individual players/stocks. The team/portfolio performance may be based on at least one stock-market related metric of each individual player/stock. The performance of each team/portfolio may be depicted using sports-related imagery. As such, certain example embodiments may provide a fantasy-like scenario in which fun and familiar sports-related imagery is used to represent more complex stock-market related statistics. The representation of the more complex stock-market related statistics via the sports-related imagery may be provided at varying levels of complexity and/or detail such that, for example, the dynamics of the stock market are brought to life in an interesting, engaging, and understandable manner. In these and/or other ways, it is therefore possible to advantageously allow individuals to experience the thrill of, and/or learn about, the stock market in a fun, easy, and risk-free environment.
In certain exemplary embodiments, in a computer-mediated network environment, a method of conducting a competitive simulation between a plurality of users, each said user having an associated team is provided. A sport to be simulated is selected as a part of the competitive simulation. At least two teams are built, with each said team comprising a plurality of player stocks and with each said team being built in dependence on the selected sport. Games to be played over a predetermined game time by two of said teams are defined. While a game is being played, a stock market related metric for each player stock of each team playing in the game is tracked. The stock market related metrics for each team playing in the game are compared over one or more predefined periods of the game time. Points are awarded to each team playing in the game based on the comparison. A winner is determined based on the total number of points awarded to each team over the entire game time.
In certain exemplary embodiments, there is provided a computer readable storage medium tangibly storing instructions for performing a competitive simulation based on a sport, the instructions being executable so as to cause a computer in a network environment to perform method steps. A plurality of positions on a team are filled via a draft, with the team comprising a plurality of player stocks, and with each said player stock being assigned a position on the team in dependence on a characteristic of the player stock. A starting lineup of drafted players on the team is selected, with the starting lineup being selected so that each position of the team is filled with a player stock assigned to that respective position. A stock market related metric is tracked for each player stock in the starting lineup during a predefined game scenario of the competitive simulation, with the game scenario occurring over a predetermined time period. Team performance is simulated in dependence on the tracked stock market related metrics of the team during the game scenario.
In certain exemplary embodiments, in a computer-mediated network environment, a method of conducting a competitive simulation between a plurality of users, each said user having an associated team is provided. A sport to be simulated is selected as a part of the competitive simulation. At least two teams are built, with each said team comprising a plurality of player stocks and with each said team being built in dependence on the selected sport. Built teams are divided into one or more leagues, with each said league having one sport associated therewith. Games to be played over a predetermined game time by two of said teams are defined for each said league. While a game is being played, a stock market related metric for each player stock of each team playing in the game is tracked. Prices of the player stocks for each team playing in the game are compared over one or more predefined periods of the game time. Points are awarded to each team playing in the game based on the comparison. A winner is determined based on the total number of points awarded to each team over the entire game time. The player stocks are displayed on a field arranged according to the selected sport and also animated in dependence on the comparison.
In certain exemplary implementations, the sport is at least one of football, basketball, baseball, racing, soccer, and ice hockey. The predetermined game time may be a five-day period from Monday through Friday, and/or each predefined period of the game time may correspond to one day in certain exemplary implementations. A team may be rewarded with a bonus situation (e.g., a corner-kick, a penalty kick, a free throw attempt, a power play, etc.) randomly or in dependence on a predetermined event in certain exemplary implementations. In certain exemplary implementations, a team may be penalized (e.g., with a technical foul, a player stock being placed in a penalty box, an ejection of a player, etc.) randomly or in dependence on a predetermined event.
The exemplary embodiments described herein may be implemented as any suitable combination of programmed logic circuitry (e.g., hardware, software, firmware, and/or the like). Also, the exemplary embodiments described herein may be tangibly stored as instructions on a computer-readable storage medium.
These aspects and exemplary embodiments described herein may be used separately and/or applied in various combinations to achieve yet further embodiments of this invention.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this disclosure and which illustrate, by way of example, principles of this invention.